William wurdemann



(ModeL) W. WURDEMANNQ Governor for Marine Engines.

No. 238,473. Patented March 1,1881.

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UNrrEn STATES ATENT .FFICE}.

WILLIAM WI IBDEMANN, OF l/VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

GOVERNOR FOR MARINE ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 238,473, dated March 1,1881.

Application filed September 16, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM WI'JRDEMANN, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Washington, District of Columbia, have invented anew anduseful Improvement in Governors of Marine Engines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

Sea-going vessels sailing a course transverse to the direction of thewindthat is, across the wavesare subjected to a pitching or oscillatorymotion fore and aft, the stern being at one part of the oscillationdeeply buried in the water and at the other part lifted nearly or quiteout of the water. WVith screwpropellers this pitching motion causes agreat inconvenience, owingto the fact that the screw, when deep in thewater, offers a greater resistance, thereby retarding the motion of theengine, and again, when lifted nearly or quite out of the water,offering a less resistance, thereby accelerating the motion of the.engine. In order to counteract this tendency to unequal motion, it isnecessary for the engineer to move the throttle-valve constantly withevery movement of the ship to regulate the supply of steam to thecylinder. This is especially necessary in heavy seas. To regulate thismotion, usually the steam is entirely out off for about two seconds oftime, just at the moment the stern begins to lift. This labor is veryexacting and tiresome to the engineer, and frequently, through fatigueand overwork, he is not able to exactly regulate the supply of steam andto close the valve at the proper moment.

The object of my invention is to construct an automatic machine toperform this important duty.

Myinvention consists in suspending a weight or mass upon a horizontalvibrating beam by means of a light spring, and connecting said beam withthe throttle-valve in such manner that the relative movement of the beamwill The movement of the beam is also regulated, to some extent, bymeans of a drag piston or disk.

The principle of operation of the machineis, that the inertia of theweight or mass prevents it from immediately partaking of the movement ofthe stern of the vessel-that is to say, the weight remains stationarywhile the stern moves upward toward it relatively-that is,

(Model) the same as if the weight vibrated downwardwhich movement closesthe valve, or partially closes it, as may be desired. This downwardmovement of the weight occurs just at the moment the stern begins torise, and the weight is brought to its first position by the tension ofthe spring, the time of the movement being regulated by the drag pistonand cylinder.

The construction and operation of the machine will be more fullyexplained by aid of the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is aperspective view of the machine. Fig. 2 is an elevation and plan of thedrag-piston or disk. Fig. 3 is a detail section of the drag-piston,showing two valves and a regulating-screw.

A represents the base or bed plate, upon which are secured the standardI, drag-cylinder F, and gallows-frame E.

B is a vibrating beam, which, in this instance, is made of two parallelbars for greater strength. The beam is pivoted at one end to thestandard I, and carries at its other end the weight 0. Near the weightupon the cross-bar D is secured one end of the spiral spring E, itsother end being secured to the cross-tree of the gallows-frame E.

G is the stem of the drag-piston, which is journaledupon arms rising upfrom the beam B. The beam at its pivoted end has a projecting arm, H, towhich is pivoted the link J, that is connected with and imparts movementto the valve K when the beam vibrates. The drag-piston has twoupwardly-opening valves, to a, one or both of which may have aregulating screw, 1). The drag-cylinder is filled With water or otherliquid. The drag-piston offers little or no resistance to downwardmovement, as the valves open freely and allow it to pass through thewater. The return movement is prevented by the closing of the valves.The valve or valves are kept partly open by the screw 1), which allowsthe piston to return slowly, and the time of the movement can beregulated as desired by the screw.

For effectual use the apparatus is to be fixed within the vessel andproperly connected with the throttle-valve of the engine. It must beplaced in the stern of the vessel, so as to partake of the greatestamount of rise and fall of the same, which rise and fall will produce amovement in the weighted beam in an opposite direction by the force ofinertia. The movement of the bar upward is limited to the point wherethe valve is open, while in its downward movement the valve is closedand the steam shut otl. The time the throttle-valve is to remain closedmay be regulated by means of the regulating screw of the drag-piston,which, as will readily be seen, determines the time allowed for theweighted beam to recover its normal position.

The main objection to all steam-governors for marine engines heretoforehas been that they operate too late-thatis, when the speed hasalreadyincreased beyond the proper rateleaving the cylinders of theengine full of steam at the time of shutting oif, which, by expansion,will continue to work. Instead, therefore, of placing reliance upon suchgovernors, it has been preferred to do the work by hand. The engineermust during rough weather remain with his hand on the lever of thethrottle-valve, watching the motion of the engine, and when she slows,indicating a greater dip of the propeller-screw, he knows that a greatrise is to follow, and, before this can take place, quickly shuts offthe steam. The great dip mentioned will also bring down I the weightedlever of the above-described governor, and it will remain down by itsown inertia when the ships stern rises again, keeping the steam -valvefor a short time shut, (which time, on an average, need not exceed twoseconds,) thus doing with much more certainty and precision the workthat is subject to be done irregularly through fatigue or lack ofattention by the human operator.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure byLetters Patent is- 1. The combination, in a marine governor, of apivoted and weighted beam, counterbalanced by a spring and regulated inits movement by a drag piston or disk in a cylinder, substan tially asabove described.

2. In a marine governor, a weighted, counterbalanced, and pivoted beam,in combination with a drag piston or disk and cylinder, said drag pistonor disk being provided with a valve and regulating'screw, substantiallyas described.

3. In a marine governor, a counterbalanced, weighted, and pivotedL-shaped beam, in combination with the connecting-bar and steamvalve,substantially as described.

4. In a marine governor, a weighted beam supported by a spring andadapted to move in a vertical plane, combined with means for regulatingits motion, and with the throttle-valve, whereby the same is controlledthrough the movement of the vessel.

5. A weighted beam counterbalanced by a spring and adapted to move in avertical plane, and means to control the reaction of the spring toregulate the time required for the weighted beam to regain its normalposition, in combination with the valve of a marine engine, all combinedto operate as and for the purpose described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 14th day ofSeptember, 1880.

WM. WURDEMANN.

Witnesses:

I. H. Sonora, J. O. TASKER.

